Last Action Hero
| story = | screenplay = | starring = | music = Michael Kamen | cinematography = Dean Semler | editing = | distributor = Columbia Pictures | released = | runtime = 131 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $85 million | gross = $137.3 million }} Last Action Hero is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies of action films in the form of films within the film. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jack Slater, a Los Angeles police detective within the Jack Slater action film franchise. Austin O'Brien co-stars as a boy magically transported into the Slater universe. Schwarzenegger also served as the film's executive producer and plays himself as the actor portraying Jack Slater, and Charles Dance plays an assassin who escapes from the Slater world into the real world. Though the film was a box office disappointment during its initial theatrical release, it became a cult film among fans and critics. The film also features Art Carney's last appearance in a motion picture. Plot Young Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) is a teenage boy living in a crime-ridden area of New York City with his widowed mother. Following the death of his father, Danny takes comfort in watching action movies, especially those featuring the indestructible Los Angeles cop Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger), at his local movie theatre owned by Nick, who also acts as the projectionist. Nick gives Danny a golden ticket once owned by Harry Houdini, to see a early preview of the new film, Jack Slater IV, before its official release. A short while into the film, the ticket transports Danny inside the fictional world where he finds himself in the back of Slater's car, who is being pursued by a number of henchmen. The two manage to escape and return to LAPD headquarters. Danny insists that they are both in a film by pointing out numerous inconsistencies, such as the presence of a cartoon cat detective called Whiskers and several fictional characters from real-world films, but Slater believes Danny is just an imaginative kid. Danny is assigned the role of Slater's partner by supervisor Dekker and attempts to help solve Slater's current case by leading him to the mansion home of the villain Tony Vivaldi, having recognised the location from the beginning of the film. Vivaldi's henchman Mr. Benedict (Charles Dance) persuades them to leave, becoming suspicious of Danny after overhearing him speak about Benedict's past activities. Slater and Danny return to Slater's home, being greeted by his daughter Meredith. Benedict and his henchmen follow them to the house and, while Slater is out, holds Danny and Meredith hostage and steals the ticket in the process. Slater returns and kills the henchmen in a shootout as Benedict flees. Later at the mansion, he discovers the ticket's magic properties. Danny and Slater uncover a plan by Vivaldi and Benedict to kill their mob rivals at a funeral by inserting a lethal gas into the deceased's corpse. Slater and Danny arrive and are betrayed by Slater's colleague, John Practice, however they are rescued by Whiskers who kills Practice. With the help of Danny, Slater infiltrates the funeral and safely disposes of the corpse, before they are picked up by Meredith. An irritated Benedict betrays and kills Vivaldi at the mansion, before being confronted by Slater and Danny, who inadvertently send Benedict into the real world with the ticket. Slater and Danny follow him and appear in Nick's theatre, where Slater becomes despondent upon finding out that he is just a fictional character. He spends time at Danny's home with him and his mother and gradually learns to becomes more sensitive as a person. Finding that a villain can win in the real world by literally getting away with murder, Benedict hatches a plan to eliminate Slater by killing Schwarzenegger the actor, after which he can bring various villains out of their respective films and take over reality. He summons the Ripper, the main antagonist from Jack Slater III, to kill Schwarzenegger, but Slater saves the actor and kills the Ripper atop a rooftop by electrocuting him. Benedict returns and reveals his scheme to Slater and Danny. After a fight with the two, during which Slater is shot, Slater takes out Benedict by shooting his explosive glass eye. Danny attempts to return Slater to his world, knowing that Jack Slater as the main protagonist wouldn't be allowed to die, but discovers they are unable to enter the movie screen without the golden ticket. Death, another fictional character who escaped from his movie The Seventh Seal, reveals to Danny that he will need the other half of the ticket, which he succeeds in doing. Danny brings Slater back into his movie, where he is able to shrug off his wound, and Danny departs back to the real world. A recovered Slater then enthusiastically embraces the true nature of his reality when he talks to Dekker about his new plan, appreciating the differences between it and the "real" world. Cast * Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jack Slater / himself * Austin O'Brien as Danny Madigan * Charles Dance as Benedict, Vivaldi's right-hand man. He is a supporting antagonist of Jack Slater IV, but becomes the true antagonist of the main film. * Robert Prosky as Nick the projectionist. * Tom Noonan as The Ripper / himself, the main antagonist of Jack Slater III. * Frank McRae as Lieutenant Dekker, Slater's immediate supervisor who's always screaming at him. * Anthony Quinn as Tony Vivaldi, the main antagonist of Jack Slater IV until Danny's interference changes events. * Bridgette Wilson as Whitney Slater and Meredith Caprice. Whitney is Jack's daughter, and Meredith is the actress who plays her in the Slater films. * F. Murray Abraham as John Practice, Jack's friend, revealed as a traitor. Danny says not to trust him saying he killed Mozart, referring to Abraham's Oscar-winning role in Amadeus. * Mercedes Ruehl as Irene Madigan, Danny's mom. * Art Carney, as Frank Slater, in his last film role. * Professor Toru Tanaka as Tough Asian Man. * Ryan Todd as Andrew Slater, Jack's son who is killed in "Jack Slater III" by The Ripper. ;Cameo appearances * Franco Columbu appears during the opening credits as director of Jack Slater IV. * Tina Turner appears at the climax of Jack Slater III as the mayor of Los Angeles. * When Danny and Jack arrive at LAPD headquarters, Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick appear outside the front door as Catherine Tramell (from Basic Instinct) and the T-1000 (from Terminator 2: Judgment Day), respectively. Stone had earlier played Schwarzenegger's wife in Total Recall. * Inside the LAPD Headquarters, an officer shouts "Hey Slater! It's your ex-wife on two!" This is actor Mike Muscat, who also played Moshier in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, one of the Cyberdyne Security officers on the phone who calls the police to say, "I think it's that guy from the mall. Him and the woman." Coincidentally Muscat was also Edward Furlong's acting coach. * Sylvester Stallone as the Terminator on a poster promoting Terminator 2: Judgment Day. This appears to be a playful jab at Schwarzenegger's close rivalry with Stallone. * Model/actress Angie Everhart as a video store clerk. * During the premiere of Jack Slater IV in the real world, a number of celebrities appear as themselves. These include Schwarzenegger's then-wife Maria Shriver, Little Richard, Entertainment Tonight host Leeza Gibbons, James Belushi (who starred with Schwarzenegger in Red Heat), Damon Wayans, Chevy Chase, Timothy Dalton (James Bond at that time) and Jean-Claude Van Damme (who worked with John McTiernan on the film Predator as the original Predator before dropping out) * As Jack and Danny enter the movie theater to find Arnold Schwarzenegger, MC Hammer asks Slater about a deal to do the Jack Slater V soundtrack. * Wilson Phillips appears singing during the funeral scene. * Ian McKellen as Death, who emerges from Ingmar Bergman's film The Seventh Seal. * Danny DeVito (uncredited) as the voice of Whiskers, after they played brothers in Twins. * Joan Plowright as the English teacher who shows her class the 1948 film adaptation of Hamlet, which starred and was directed by Plowright's husband Laurence Olivier. Theatrical Trailer Category:1993 films Category:Columbia Pictures films Category:Rated PG-13 movies Category:Films with opening credits